It's not because they are too high, though they do have a little wedge heel; and it's not because they are uncomfortable, though, admittedly, they are not a sneaker; it's because they are too pretty.

I went off to help host the out-of-towners brunch in my new patent leather shoes, but first I had to take Rose and David to school. I had never noticed how much mud and gravel lie between me and the Kangaroo room until I had to drag David across it and jolly him across it and hop with him across it.

I was wondering how working moms manage children in unchildfriendly clothes. My friend filled me in--they keep a Supermanesque phone booth in the car. In goes I-will-stomp-in-every-mud-puddle-with-you-if-that's-what-it-takes Mom, out comes shiny sophistication. I need to get me one of those when I go back to work.